


Dogs of War

by bluestar



Category: Pacific Rim
Genre: Gen, mentions of canonical characters and events
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-25 06:11:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/949584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestar/pseuds/bluestar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A gift for a friend on tumblr, because original Ranger teams are fun and the Jaeger creator is a massive idea enabler.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1.

 

            “That’s checkmate.”

            “What? What is?”

            “On the _board_ , Cai. Checkmate.”

            Cai slammed his glass down, staring at the chessboard as though it was personally insulting him. Dai watched him slowly turn red.

            “We just started. I literally _just set up this board._ ”

            “And look what I did while you were swilling down drink. New record, isn’t it?”

            The brothers were sitting off to one side in the Shatterdome’s Jaeger bay at Whiskey Marauder’s feet, slightly separate from the milling crowds of maintenance workers. Dai had been nursing a headache all day and the constant thrum of conversation wasn’t doing him any favors. Cai refilled his glass and pushed it towards his brother.

            “No thank you,” Dai said absently, resetting the board. “I’d prefer to be sober while I grind your self esteem into the ground.”

            Cai muttered sourly under his breath and took the glass again, slamming it back. Dai shook his head.

            “That’s half the reason I beat you, you know.”

            “It keeps me loose enough to stand playing against you. It’d take the patience of a fucking saint to do it otherwise.”

            The Jaeger bay doors ground open with a slow, grating squeal, setting Dai’s teeth on edge. Cai looked over and brightened.

            “Oooh, the _girls_ are back.”

            “The Beckets?”

            “Watch your mouth! It’s the _girls,_ idiot.”

            “You realize neither of them like you, right?”

            “Details, details.”

            Ghost Europa was drawn in inch by arduous inch on her loading platform, and the Rangers and their maintenance team strolled in as though on parade before her. Magda and Claire were talking animatedly, the shorter woman craning back to speak to the other. Claire laughed and gestured wildly with her hands, and Magda looked down at her with the indulgent fondness of an older sister.

            “Evenin’, ladies!” Cai called. Magda glanced over briefly, then rolled her eyes and turned back to Claire. Dai snorted.

            “Why do you insist on wasting your time?”

            Cai stared at his brother as though he was an idiot.

            “Have you seen _either_ of them?”

            “Good God. Here, you go first. Distract yourself and stop embarrassing me along with you.”

            Cai turned to the board and shoved a piece forward.

            “We’re next on patrol,” he said. “Gipsy Danger’s still coming back from that deployment alongside Striker Eureka, she won’t be back for another few days.”

            “Good,” Dai said. “Maybe we can get a chance to test out the Tesla fists on something, finally.”

            “You’re not still sour about missing the last event, are you?”

            “I’d like to see some action once in a while,” Dai retorted. “Patrols are all well and good but I’d like to actually kill a damn kaiju rather than walk the ocean _waiting_ for one.”

            “Well, you heard those two nutcase scientists talking lately? The crotchety one’s been saying we might start seeing double events.”

            “Please. He’s so full of hot air it’s a miracle he doesn’t float to the ceiling,” Dai said, waving a dismissive hand. “Though I think I prefer him to that little Sid Vicious clone. He creeps me out a bit.”

            “It’s the tattoos, isn’t it,” Cai laughed. “He’s not so bad once you get to know him. Kind of funny, actually.”

            “Funny,” Dai said. “Right. Like _this_ is funny. Checkmate.”

            “Oh, you rotten _BASTARD!”_

Dai laughed.

            “Yep. Funny.”

            “Gentlemen.”

            Dai jolted, looking ‘round and seeing Marshall Pentecost approaching them with a mild expression. He jumped up from the makeshift table immediately, and Cai followed at once.

            “Sir,” they said in unison, saluting. Pentecost nodded and they stood at ease.

            “Drinking on duty, Ranger?” he asked Cai.

            “Off the clock sir, wouldn’t do it otherwise.”

            “So now’s the time to stop,” Pentecost replied. “Suit up, we’re sending you out.”

            Dai looked at him in puzzlement, glancing over at Ghost Europa.

            “Ghost just came back from patrol, sir. Is something going on?”

            “Rumblings from out the Breach,” Pentecost said. “There’s been waves of dilation but nothing has been spotted, and with Gipsy Danger out of range, we need to cycle through who patrols. Ghost Europa’s already been out for five hours, her team needs to rest. So, gentlemen. Go get ready.”

            Cai packed away the chessboard and drained the dregs from his glass before Pentecost noticed. Dai saluted again, and Pentecost nodded at them briskly before walking off.

            “How’s your head?” Cai asked, elbowing his brother as they walked towards the prep room. “Gonna be okay?”

            “Worry about yourself,” Dai said. “I’ll be fine.”

            “No need to _snap_ , you ass.”

            Dai patted his brother on the head, making him swat the offending hand away and shove him, and they wrestled half in earnest, half-laughing as they walked. They passed by Magda and Claire exiting the prep room, and Cai gave the taller woman a grin he no doubt thought was charming.

            “Any advice for us before we head out into the fray?”

            Magda eyed Cai coolly, then shook her head and kept walking. Cai coughed awkwardly, snapping a salute to her retreating back.

            “Right. Nice talking to you.”

            Dai snorted, giving Claire a polite smile as she passed by. The woman was miniscule and had to look up at him like a small child regarding a parent.

            “She’s going to punch him in the mouth one these days,” she said. Dai shrugged.

            “She can pick a fight with him if she likes, but it’ll be an even one.”

            Claire glanced at Cai.

            “If you’re a betting man we could make it fun,” she said. Dai grinned and shook his head.

            “Sorry, cariad,” he said. “But I side with him no matter what.”

            Claire gave a shrug of her own, though she regarded Dai with more friendliness than Magda could muster for either brother.

            “Just a thought. Good luck out there.”

            She walked away, brushing past Cai. He watched her go and turned to his brother.

            “Why do they talk to you? I’m nice.”

            “You’re a lout.”

            “Well, pray it isn’t genetic. Imagine having nice polite conversation and all of a sudden you word-vomit on them or something. Won’t be so superior then, will you?”

            “Better words than actual vomit, _lout,”_ Dai said remorselessly. “C’mon, we’re burning daylight.”

            Suiting up was an uncomfortable affair, and Cai resisted the urge to adjust things below the belt as the battle armor was bolted on.

            “Hate these damn suits,” Cai muttered. “Forty damn pounds of armor just to make us miserable.”

            “Suck it up,” Dai scolded. “Better to be weighed down and be safe than lighter and more exposed. Not the designer’s fault you’re built like a brick shithouse.”

            “They ought to keep it in mind anyway,” Cai muttered, rolling his shoulders as they stomped heavily to the Conn-Pod drop corridor.

            “If you’re complaining this much when we hit the Drift, I’m going to tune you out.”

            “Hard to do when we’re connected.”

            “I’ll start thinking about showtunes. I’ll have you singing _Les Miserables_ in the shower for a week if you keep whining.”

            “You wouldn’t _dare.”_

Dai grinned evilly.

            “ _Master of the house, doling out the charm, ready with a handshake and an open palm…”_

            Cai shoved his brother again, and they stepped into Whiskey Marauder’s Conn-Pod. The harnesses snapped sharply into their suits, and their feet were fixed onto the elliptical-like walker platforms.

            “ _Preparing for Conn-Pod drop in five,”_ Tendo Choi said over the radio. “ _Brace for impact, guys._ ”

            “Ready and prepared for drop,” Dai said. The brothers braced, and Tendo counted down.

            “ _Five, four, three, two…one.”_

There was a startling sense of falling as the Conn-Pod was released, a swooping sensation in the stomach like dropping down a roller coaster. The Pod slowed and twisted in a corkscrew onto the Jaeger’s body, and Whiskey Marauder’s holographic displays and instruments blazed to life.

            “ _Initiating neural handshake.”_            

            Cai stole a glance at his brother.

            “Don’t think about fuckin’ showtunes, Dai. Don’t do that to me.”

            “Then I better not hear one damn thing about how tight your codpiece is. That _haunt_ s a man, Cai.”

            Cai’s laugh was cut short as the Pons activated, a disorienting fusion of thoughts briefly obliterating any sense of self. Memories filtered through in a rapid blur, and the brothers rocked back against their harnesses.

            “ _Neural handshake active and holding. You guys okay in there?”_

Cai blinked away the last shreds of shock. He could feel Dai's mind buzzing through his own, and they shook their heads in unison to clear them.

            “Good to go, LOCCENT,” he said. He glanced at Dai, and his brother saluted him jokingly.

            _“You are clear for deployment. Stick to the Miracle Mile and check in every twenty minutes for the all-clear.”_

            “You bet.”

            _“Good hunting.”_

The spotter helicopter team buzzed to life as Whiskey Marauder was dragged on its loader platform, cables lifting it off the Shatterdome dock and hoisting it into the air. They released over the water, and the Jaeger landed heavily in a half-crouch, straightening slowly and casting a broad look around. Cai and Dai shared a grin and lifted their hands, and Whiskey Marauder's massive fists slammed together with crushing force. The sound echoed through the Shatterdome and out towards the coast, and step by heavy step they walked into the sea.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

 

 

            By the time Whiskey Marauder got back from patrol, Dai was almost crippled by his headache. Cai caught him as he disengaged from his harness, feeling a ghost of the headache pounding between his eyes.

            “You okay?” he asked. Dai gave him a wry look, and he laughed slightly. “Right, right. Sorry. Need help?”

            “Get off, I’m fine,” Dai said, though he sounded strained. He tugged his helmet off and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. “Need bed is all.”

            He bore the noise and jostling of disarmoring well enough, though by the time the prep crew was through he looked ready to drop. Cai watched his brother stagger off to the barracks and sighed, running his fingers over the scar on his face. Well, there was nothing to be done about it. Dai had finished the fight Cai was unable to, and they both bore the consequences of it. The secondhand headache had already faded for him, but he knew Dai would be dealing with it for hours yet.

            Jamming his hands into his pockets, Cai headed towards the mess, ignoring everyone around him. The patrol had been uneventful, though LOCCENT was monitoring the Breach in case it finally decided to spit a kaiju out. Maybe Ghost Europa could take the brunt of this one. Dai needed to recuperate for a bit.

            Dinner was a valiant attempt at baked chicken and potatoes, though Cai wasn’t sure they just hadn’t shot a few seagulls and served them up as substitute. Rationing had grown worse over the years, and Cai mourned to remember proper food that didn’t come freeze-dried, substituted or preserved within an inch of its life. He forced his food down and tried to ignore the grainy, gristly feel of the instant potatoes and chicken, reminding himself it wouldn’t pay to go hungry.

            All around him, people milled and talked. Sometimes there was laughter, but for the most part the mood was incurably somber. Reckoner’s attack on Hong Kong a few weeks prior had been unsettling, even though the creature had been put down before it could get too far inland. The slums where it had fallen were a toxic wasteland now, and Cai had watched one too many news reports with people half-dead of Kaiju Blue. He didn’t blame anyone for feeling a bit hopeless; though all the destruction just made him want to climb into Whiskey Marauder and march straight down towards the Breach.

            He shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth and repressed a shudder, knocking back his water like it was a shot and wishing for something stronger to wash the taste of dinner out of his mouth. In the back of his mind he could still feel the connection with Dai; it was going to be a busy night with the ghost Drifting, he could already tell. Dreams, impressions of thoughts…it was all a bit science fiction to Cai, but you learned to live with the weirdness after awhile.

            So wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t look where he was going as he walked out of the mess and banged his shoulder right into Magda.

            “Ow! Jesus, watch where you’re….oh,” she said, going from irritated to downright belligerent with remarkable speed. Cai couldn’t help but resent the way her lip curled and she turned away from him, walking past like he was beneath her notice.

            “Alright, c’mon!” he called after her. She paused, giving a cool look over her shoulder. “What is your _problem_ with me? I’ve done _nothing wrong_ to you.”

            “Your presence is offensive enough,” she said. Cai spluttered, throwing his hands up in pure frustration.

            “There’s a lot of other assholes in the world,” he said. “Surely I can’t rank that highly above anyone else. I don’t see you pulling this with other pilots. It’s just _me._ You care to tell me why or should we just fuckin’ settle it trying to beat each other to death?”

            “You wouldn’t last five minutes with me,” Magda retorted, turning away again. “And if you can’t recall why I _despise_ you, it’s not worth going over again.”

            “Oh for the _love_ of…y’know what? Fine. _Whatever,_ you fuckin’ ice queen.”

            Cai stormed off and the expression on his face made the crowds of people around him part like water in his path, everyone avoiding his eye in case it provoked him into punching them. He kicked the door open to his and Dai’s shared quarters and instantly regretted it as Dai groaned in the dark, sitting up in bed.

            “Ah, _shit_. I’m sorry, Dai,” he said quickly, gently closing the door.

            “D’you actually hate me, or did you just forget?” Dai croaked.

            “Forgot, I swear,” Cai said. He changed out of his uniform in the tiny bathroom, trying to be as quiet as possible as he felt for his bunk in the dark and settled into bed.

            “You don’t have to creep about like a mouse, Cai.”

            “I feel bad. I don’t want to make it worse.”

            “It feels like there’s a railroad spike in my skull. Aside from slamming the door, nothing you do is going to make it worse.”

            Cai stared up into the darkness silently for a few minutes, pillowing his arms under his head.

            “Magda hates my guts,” he said eventually. Dai snorted.

            “She hates everybody. I wouldn’t take it personally.”

            “Yeah, but…I mean, I think she actually wants to kill me. Did I throw up on her shoes or something?”

            “No, but making eyes at Claire doesn’t win you any points.”

            “I’m not making eyes at her!”

            Dai snorted again.

            “ _Please_. If you didn’t notice her you’d probably be dead.”

            “Sounds like somebody’s projecting,” Cai said sourly. “You gonna start waxing poetic about her eyes or how blonde her hair is?”

            “I couldn’t wax poetic about a candle at the moment,” Dai muttered. Cai groaned, covering his face with his hands.

            “Did you just make a fucking _pun_ , you ass?”

            “I’m ill. I’ll make all the puns I want.”

            “You disgust me.”

            Dai started to laugh, though it quickly turned to a soft groan of pain.

            “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.”

            Cai sighed.

            “Sorry, sorry. Go to sleep, I’ll shut up.”      

            “I’ve been trying to, it’s keeping me awake…”

            “Alright, alright. Want I should sing you to sleep or something?”

            “You couldn’t hold a tune if your life depended on it.”

            “I resent that.”

            “Good, it’ll keep you brooding in silence,” Dai said. Cai didn’t have to see his face to know he was smiling like an asshole, and he gave a grin of his own.

            “Good night, sweet prince,” he said mockingly.

            “Don’t start quoting Shakespeare at me either, you’ve no right to.”

            Cai fell quiet, waiting a good ten minutes until he could sense Dai starting to drop off.

            “And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,” he said in a stage whisper. Dai threw his pillow at him and Cai cackled.


End file.
